Lifestyle

PM Chris Hipkins announces Michael Wood has resigned

Published

3 years ago

June 21, 2023

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has announced Immigration Minister Michael Wood’s resignation.

Wood was stood down as Transport Minister and investigated by a Parliamentary inquiry earlier this month after it emerged he had not declared shares in Auckland Airport worth about $13,000.

He had purchased the shares as a teenager in the 1990s, and was stood down after failing to declare them in the public register of MPs’ assets and other interests until 2022.

He sold them shortly after being stood down from the role, but had retained other portfolios including Immigration.

Hipkins said newly unveiled additional shareholdings held by a trust for which Wood was a trustee and beneficiary raised concerns about him not identifying and managing potential conflicts of interest.

These included shares in Chorus, Spark, and National Australia Bank (NAB).

Hipkins said in particular Wood as immigration minister made the decision to include telecommunications technicians on the immigration green list, after “representations from the telecommunications industry including Chorus, seeking those changes”.

NAB is the parent company of the Bank of New Zealand. Hipkins says the shareholding was not disclosed in conversations at Cabinet about a market study into banking or other recent relevant conversations.

“Despite repeated requests from the Cabinet Office and myself for Michael to manage his shareholdings, he’s repeatedly failed to identify, disclose and appropriately manage conflicts of interest.”

He said when he stood Wood down as transport minister, he had asked if there was anything else he should know and was told there was not.

Hipkins said not managing his airport shares was not an isolated incident, and it “was therefore not appropriate for Michael to continue as a minister”.

“I’ve also formed the view that the system that we have in New Zealand for managing potential conflicts of interest amongst Cabinet ministers also needs to change.”

He said when he learned Wood had failed to sell his Auckland Airport shares despite 12 requests from the Cabinet Office to do so, he asked for advice on measures to ensure this kind of behaviour would not be repeated.

Minister Michael Wood.Michael Wood has resigned. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
As a result, he had agreed to five changes to tighten up the disclosure regime for ministers.

First, Cabinet Office will move to quarterly reporting of conflicts of interest, directly to the prime minister. This changes from prime ministers only being advised of new interests as part of the annual review, or on an “ad-hoc” basis if particular issues arise.

Second, an escalation process will be set up for situations where a minister is not engaging fully with the process or following advice on the management of a conflict.

Third, Hipkins said there would be in-person annual reviews with each minister to discuss their conflicts.

Each minister would also have to nominate a dedicated person in their office to support them with conflict-of-interest processes.

And the fifth change, Hipkins said, was conflict disclosures would become a standing item at the start of each Cabinet or Cabinet Committee meeting.

“I have also sought advice on a full Restrictions Regime on shareholdings for ministers,” Hipkins said.

Hipkins also sought advice on a full restrictions regime for shareholdings for ministers.

“In Australia, the Code of Conduct for ministers requires that they divest themselves of investments and other interests in any public or private company or business. That is, other than public superannuation funds or publicly listed managed funds or trust arrangements where the minister has no visibility or control of decision-making.”

Hipkins said while he believed Wood acted with no intent of personal gain, “his actions have let himself and the government down” and “he has shown a serious lapse of judgement and has taken the appropriate action by resigning”.

Carmel Sepuloni will become minister for workplace relations and safety and minister for Auckland, Andrew Little will become minister of immigration and David Parker will become minister of transport. Kiri Allan will become associate finance minister.

“Like many others, I have found this episode deeply frustrating,” Hipkins said.

“While I’ve only been in this job for about five months, I’ve taken a number of steps to stop the kinds of behaviour that have not met acceptable standards. Minister(s), for whom it is an honour to have such a role, need to ensure they manage their affairs to the highest standards.

“These have been unnecessary distractions from the firm focus that I want to bring (as) prime minister to delivering on the issues that are most important to New Zealanders.”

“These are conversations that I’ve been having with Michael over several weeks, and to only learn of these yesterday when repeatedly through numerous conversations I’ve asked him if there are other issues that I should be aware of and he’s said no, that’s beyond frustrating.”

He said he did not believe Wood had been able to adequately explain how he had found himself in this position.

“In these issues as prime minister, my first duty is to uphold the standards required of ministers. That’s been my primary consideration here. Michael Wood hasn’t met these standards.”

He said he liked to think he had treated ministers fairly and with respect but had taken appropriate action when those ministers failed to uphold the standards expected of them.

Hipkins did not have a breakdown of the worth of the shares, but the bank shares were believed to be in the tens of thousands.

Hipkins said the matter was disclosed to his office yesterday morning, he was informed about lunchtime, he went through the information and sought answers from Wood.

“Those answers came back last night, I met with him this morning at the first available opportunity to do that and then I indicated, well, I accepted his verbal resignation at that meeting which has subsequently been followed up.”

Hipkins said was an issue he still did not quite understand.

“I believe Michael to be an honest and decent person, who has been a conscientious and hardworking minister and has been a very good minister. I still don’t understand how after all of this period of time over two years of the Cabinet Office asking him to attend to these matters we’re still in this position now.

“In the last few weeks even, the fact that more information has come to light as those weeks have unfolded is something that I still don’t understand. I accept that human beings make mistakes but this is over two years’ worth and even in the last few weeks the amount of time it’s taken for him to fully identify any other relevant issues, again, is not acceptable.”

Hipkins said some of the decisions – the banking ones – were only made in the last few weeks.

“He still hasn’t given me a good explanation … I don’t accept that it simply was just something that he didn’t get to. It should have been a priority for him and it wasn’t. And I haven’t heard an explanation from him – an adequate explanation, in my view – explanation as to why he hasn’t done that.

“His explanation was that these shares have been in the trust for a long time, and that he wasn’t aware of them. I don’t accept that.”

He said Wood’s future in politics was a question for him.

“There are people who have made mistakes in the past who have gone on to have great political careers … but clearly one of the priorities for him right now has to be to tidy up this part of his life, which he clearly hasn’t given sufficient attention to.”

“If he was simply a beneficiary and someone else was managing the trust that would be a different situation, but he is a trustee of the trust. On these matters clearly he’s let himself down, he’s let me down, he’s the government down, he’s let the people of New Zealand down.

“I indicated to him that I thought his position as a minister was untenable.”

Wood apologises for handling of conflicts
In a statement, Wood said he was apologetic and was taking responsibility for the mistakes he had made in dealing with his conflicts on interests.

He said he had spent the past couple of weeks reviewing all of his financial interests and found other shares he held through a family trust that should have been reported to the Cabinet office.

“Similar to my ownership of personal shares, these were historic holdings from before I was a trustee and I have paid limited attention to them. At all times I have provided information about shares in the trust to the Cabinet office that I have believed was correct, but in this case my understanding was incorrect.”

Wood said he was a “true believer in politics” and was there to serve the public.

“There has not been a second of my political career where any of my financial interests have influenced my actions or even crossed my mind. In some respects my de-prioritisation of my personal financial affairs has led to this situation.

“That being said I acknowledge the rules are in place for a reason and it is incumbent on Ministers to manage not just the reality, but also the perception of any conflicts. I have not managed this effectively, I take responsibility for it, and as such have submitted my resignation to the prime minister. I apologise to him and the public for this situation.”

VIA RNZ

Breaking News

University of Auckland building on fire

Published

8 months ago

March 12, 2026

News Staff

A fire at the University of Auckland law school building has now been extinguished.

A Fire and Emergency spokesperson said there had been a fire at the University and six fire trucks were at the scene on Short Street. The call to 111 came through at about 2.40pm.

FENZ said the fire was now extinguished but crews will stay near the building this afternoon.

Staff and students were seen going in floor by floor, starting with level 6, to retrieve any belongings left behind

A student who was evacuated from the fourth floor of the building said it seemed the fire started on level two.

Police were at the scene talking to students who have been evacuated.

Student Talisha Lal said when the fire alarm went off she, and other students, thought it was a drill.

Lal said once she was out of the building, she could see smoke.

More to come…

~ RNZ

Breaking News

Teacher struck off after filming explicit videos at school

Published

8 months ago

March 11, 2026

News Staff

An Auckland teacher has had her registration cancelled after recording explicit videos of herself urinating on the floor of a classroom and on a student’s belongings.

The New Zealand Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal found Lisa Marie Edmondson had committed serious misconduct.

The school was alerted to the content after the deputy principal of the school was approached by a member of the public who had come across a video on TikTok and recognised the setting. A search for the username led to a pornographic account.

The account contained more than 30 explicit videos which had been recorded at various locations over a period of two-and-a-half years.

In one of the videos, Edmondson appeared to urinate on the floor of a classroom with genitalia clearly visible. A second video showed the teacher urinating on a hat with a student’s name clearly visible in a lost property box.

The summary of facts stated there was an “ongoing urine smell” in some classrooms during the time of her employment which had been attributed to rats and mice. Bait stations had been set up during the school holidays but no rodent activity was noted. The tribunal said her students were “likely to have been adversely affected” due to evidence of an “unpleasant smell that required deep cleaning”.

While she was not visible in the videos, the teacher was recognised due to her voice and clothing.

Edmondson resigned in May 2023 after receiving notice of a formal investigation.

Following her resignation, Edmondson worked as a relief teacher at a second school before being invited to apply for a fixed-term position.

The tribunal found that Edmondson had failed to disclose her full employment history when applying for – and subsequently working at – a new school in 2023 and failing to inform her employer that she was the subject of a mandatory report and current investigation by the Teaching Council.

In her reflective statement, Edmondson acknowledged that she had let her students down and “was not the role model that I should have been for them”.

“I have accepted that the likelihood of returning as a teacher has ended. This has been a very difficult concept to accept because I loved teaching, loved being in the classroom and loved my students and their whānau.”

The tribunal noted Edmondson failed to address the conduct head on or express concern for her former students and colleagues.

Edmondson’s registration was cancelled and the former teacher was issued a formal censure. She was ordered to pay $3,255.87 towards the Complaints Assessment Committee’s costs and $582 to the Teaching Council.

‘I have let down so many people’

In a statement to Stuff, Edmondson said she had no choice but to accept the ruling, but regretted her actions.

“During a two-year period which covers this time I was suffering from extreme anxiety, I can’t explain why I did it other than self sabotage and treating myself badly for things that had happened. By the time it was reported, I really did not even remember and hadn’t done anything else.”

Her actions had impacted her children and her ability to provide for them.

“I can’t change what I have done, but can make sure it never happens again.”

~ RNZ

Breaking News

Diabetic patient dies in Waikato Hospital stairwell after urgently needed food delayed

Published

8 months ago

March 9, 2026

News Staff

A diabetic patient collapsed and died in a Waikato Hospital stairwell after a delay getting urgently needed food.

The 79-year-old had a head injury and no pulse when he was found unconscious and alone by a passing nightshift doctor.

It was more than an hour after a nurse had gone to get him a sandwich to lift his blood sugar.

The Health and Disability Commission has just released a report severely critical of the care the man received in December 2019.

Waikato Hospital now makes sure the ward fridges are always stocked with snacks for diabetics.

The man, who had mild dementia and reduced mobility, was in the cardiac care unit after a heart attack.

The commission’s report said at about 9.30pm, he received a falling blood sugar reading of 4.4mmol/L and told a nurse he was worried about it.

At that level, his family had told nurses he could become unsteady on his feet.

The nurse went to get him a sandwich but there were none in the ward fridge so she had to go to another ward.

When she returned 10-15 minutes later he was not in his room so she left the sandwich by his bed.

Ten minutes later he was still not there and she wrongly assumed he was in the toilet.

A search for him did not begin for 55 minutes, the report said.

In reality, he had left his room and was last seen on CCTV footage at the snack machine.

He had walked past the nurses station and had been passed by seven staff members, none of whom appeared to check on him, the report said.

He had then gone out a fire exit and was not found until the passing doctor found him unconscious. He got help and tried to resuscitate him but could not.

By then the man’s blood sugar was just 1.8mmol/L, the report said.

Reaction from family and expert

In a written response to the commission after its initial findings, one of the man’s family members wanted to thank the health professionals who found him in “a severe hypoglycaemic crisis” and tried to save him.

“I can only imagine what it must have been like to stumble across a lost patient dying in a stairwell late at night.”

Health NZ had failed to keep the man safe, the family member said.

An expert nurse who reviewed the case, told the commission the man’s nurse should have made sure he ate the sandwich, especially because he experienced some memory loss and could have forgotten one was coming.

“Administering this very important snack is similar to administering medicine – you have to stay and watch the patient consume it,” the expert nurse said.

The initial delay in getting food was not the nurse’s fault but she should have checked if the man (Mr A) was there by knocking on the bathroom door when she returned.

“Not communicating with Mr A led to a cascade of terrible events,” the expert nurse said.

Waikato Hospital carried out its own adverse event review after the man’s death, the report said.

It found if the nurse had not had to go to another ward for a sandwich it would have allowed the man to get food more quickly and reduced the risk of him leaving the ward.

When his wife brought the man to the ED she had his medicine, his diabetic kit and his diabetic record book.

She had talked to staff many times about his needs.

But the family member told the commission the family was overlooked and not communicated with properly.

Very poor care

Deputy commissioner Carolyn Cooper gave her condolences to Mr A’s family.

“Mrs A was closely involved in her husband’s care, and his sudden death has been traumatic for her and the family,” she said.

Cooper found some of what happened was a severe departure from the expected level of care, and when it came to nursing management of his diabetes, it was “very poor”.

She was critical of the lack of food on the ward, the lack of communication with the man to make sure he had eaten, the delay in the search for him and the lack of a system to alert staff when a patient left the ward.

Health New Zealand’s response

Waikato Hospital now makes sure the fridges in all its cardiac units are checked to ensure there are enough snacks for patients with diabetes.

It has given staff more diabetes and dementia management training, with at risk patients now placed closer to the nurses station.

There is an alert system on the unlocked doors at the fire exit stairs.

In a response to questions from RNZ, Waikato Hospital’s chief medical officer Margaret Fisher said it had apologised to the family for the distress and the lasting impact from the incident.

The hospital accepted the commission’s findings that it did not meet the standard of care.

It had many of the improvements mentioned in the report and was also looking at creating a patient-tracking system in acute care areas, she said.

The hospital did not answer RNZ’s questions about how well staff the ward was on the night the man died.

~ RNZ